Percy Jackson--The Blazing Trident
by emberkitty777
Summary: So Percy's fought gods, saved the world...totally deserves peace now, right? Fat chance. With ancient forces stirring up in the ocean, another prophecy strikes blows. The world is plunging, monsters are running rampant, and the Mist is failing. The culprit? Unknown. And the sea turns blood-red as the Trident of Poseidon flickers with fire that can't be extinguished.
1. Note From Da Author

_Author's Note_ Hello! Yes, this is a fanfic, but not exactly...hmm I'm not sure how to explain. This isn't your average fanfiction, which is why I didn't put it in the title. Because really, I totally get turned off by fanfics because the majority of them are cranberries. (If you don't know what that term means, it stands for cranfictions, or crappy fanfictions.) I am using the perspective and so far story of Percy Jackson, but it's not like a story where he does completely different stuff. It's kind of like if Rick Riordan didn't write The Heroes of Olympus series but instead wrote another series of Percy Jackson's adventures, which is what I'm going for in this series. I'm planning on making a five book series. And I am aiming for everything Rick Riordan has got, the length, the mood, the way Percy's perspective is like. So, enjoy and give it a chance! I don't care a whole lot on favorites and stuff, although that would be nice, but PLEASE leave reviews! I love hearing from people! :) -Ember 


	2. Ch1: The Ocean Is On Fire

_The Ocean Is On Fire_

I wasn't in the worst of moods today.

I'd entered 11th grade without a hitch at Goode High School. Mom had married Paul and after a bit of bargaining, Zeus altered the Mist to fix things up there just a bit better than Chiron managed before. I suspected that it was because there was a tiny difference between an all powerful lightning king of gods and an old half horse teacher, but apparently not (In fact, I don't think Chiron was too happy when I asked that). So much time had passed that it was easier to erase the memory of me blowing up the school, killing an "innocent cheerleader", and basically wrecking. But it was alright now. I could start a fresh rep.

Today, I was starting my first day at Goode. Technically, it wasn't my first day, but I had to be careful not to trigger mortal memories of me. So in other words, I needed to avoid talking about demon cheerleaders and exploding music rooms. Normally, you wouldn't really feel bad at this point, but I wasn't just feeling pretty good, I was feeling awesome.

Because you see, Goode recently added an architecture course. And a bunch of other classes that have nothing to do with me complaining about having no friends at school since Grover was staying at camp most of the time now. So Paul tweaked a few classes, and now I can enjoy my school life with the best girlfriend ever.

I saw her running up to me as we walked into school together. With her blond curls flying and those beautiful gray eyes, I couldn't imagine anything that could top this one. I was meeting Annabeth just like I would every day from then on. In fact, I can't remember a better moment, although the time we got Double King Cheeseburgers on sale may rival that statement.

"Percy!" She shouted and caught up to me. "What class are you going to?" I shrugged. I was taking Mythology, Latin, and a bunch of other stuff I knew already. I told her this was because I sucked at a few of the other minor studies like Math, Science, History. I don't need to know that stuff, really. Like, who needs Algebra?

Apparently, Annabeth was taking Architecture, Graphic Design, and a lot of smart people stuff. Honestly, I didn't understand a word that came firing out of her mouth.

We were about to go in, but a misty rainbow appeared in front of us. The translucent waves soon were made out to be an image of Chiron at camp near the lakeside, although I couldn't see the water in the limited space the image provided me. Chiron looked...kind of worried, for some reason.

"Percy, I need you to get to camp with Annabeth now! It's really important-" he told us urgently. "Something's been-" I interrupted him.

"Chiron, whatever it is, I'm sure you guys can handle it. Don't underestimate the new and improved campers, we can deal with an attack. Whatever that is messed up, you can tell me later. This is an important day," I said. "The message can wait." Before he could respond, I cut off the connection.

When I think back, that should have been the first red flag. That was stupid of me. Any day, I should've figured whatever makes Chiron worried is something to reckon about. But it was like something was gently pushing me along, capitalizing on the giddy feeling I had. Annabeth was going to the same school as me. And in peace. I hadn't had peace for a long time until now.

But like I mentioned, it wasn't just that. Normally, Chiron had to be a serious heads up, but the tugging feeling only made my thoughts even more clouded. Before I could linger, I had moved on, unaware.

I turned to Annabeth, who was still going on about ceiling structures and domes. But we were really going to be tardy on our first day if we didn't hurry up, because the new watch she got me points out that we have a few minutes to get to classes.

"And so I'm hoping I can decide about the tower's spiral for the gods in this class as well as whether I should use clear glass or one-way windows for the rooftop panes-" Annabeth rattled on.

"Yeah, yeah, that's great," I said. "Let's go in now before we're late." She smiled and we walked hand in hand, with people staring at me wondering if the pretty girl was really this loser's girlfriend. We separated when we went to different classes, but met again in the gym during the required second year of P.E.

This should have been the best day of school ever. But somehow, I felt uneasy all of a sudden. Something was not right. It was a very small feeling, growing barely at all, but I had learned to trust my gut. Something was definitely not right.

Still, I dismissed it. It was that foggy influence again, like it was taking out the small part of me that said: After all, I'm here to enjoy, not worry about the end of the world or chaos descending upon us. That could wait for tomorrow. The P.E. teacher blew his whistle and I was jolted out of my thoughts from the shrill.

"Jackson!" He yelled loudly. "You're not doing it ri-" He didn't get to finish his sentence. A gigantic boom filled the gym and when the smoke cleared, a mass of scales slithered and roared fire. I blinked, wiping my eyes, and made out the figure of a very small (relatively speaking, now) drakon.

It had to be some kind of newborn baby, because it was hardly as deadly or gigantic as the one we'd seen before, but it'd be ridiculous to say it wasn't dangerous. A _drakon_. Here. Why now?! I thought desperately. How could a drakon of all things invade? Isn't it over?

Everyone in the gym-well, the mortals, I mean-had begun shrieking, as they tried to evacuate quickly. On the way out, several screamed "Fire!" or "What kind of huge freaky snake is that?!" I wondered about that. Normally the Mist would make it just look like a giant fire that, judging by my luck, I started. Or if they saw the "snake", why was it confusingly "huge" and "freaky"?

"Hey, Annabeth, that big guy that looks like a block? He shouted sna-" I tried to call, but it was lost within the noise, and she had already started dashing towards the drakon. I shrugged, deciding that the eminent threat was more important than an offhand comment for now. Thinking about that kind of stuff isn't really my thing, in any case.

Whatever it was because, Annabeth and I set to work. She pulled out her bronze knife, finding chinks and wrenching her knife in them. The poor guy hadn't a chance. Still, I could see her growing a bit weary, and the drakon howled with pain and fury, crashing into the hard pavement, ripping apart the walls. Then, it's tail, barbs polished and lovely, came swinging around, about to spear her right in the back.

I flinched. That kinda reminded me of the manticore a few years ago, but it worked out. She leaped up and flipped over, grabbing its tip and the twisting it. I distracted it with attacks to its front, thinly slicing its eye. She continued to proceed in slashing her knife around, slowly killing it until finally it was nearly destroyed-right in sync as Riptide dealt a last blow to its head. It wailed and tried to get away, but we had it now.

After a lot of slicing and pulling and stabbing and dragging it around, it collapsed and dissipated. We were lucky, though, that it had just been a baby. I shuddered to imagine if a full-grown battle drakon had invaded with just Annabeth and I on for personnel. Heck, this one really was a small one though-hardly bigger than the gym. Tiny, really.

After it was all fixed up, I noticed that the alarms had been blaring extremely loudly. I figured it was about time to start running since we were the only ones left in the building. I grasped Annabeth's hand and pulled her along.

"Why are we running?" She looked bewildered. "We can reason it out with them, it's not as there's evidence we started it in the fir-" I cut her off.

"Yeah, see, last time I just got framed and blamed, and ended up a temporary wanted criminal." And with that, we ran outside, me sprinting ahead in excitement. I know I should've felt bad, but compared to everything else, this was a little thrill to up my game. The nervous feeling I had must've meant this spontaneous attack, and I was relieved it wasn't anything worse. At least, this we could handle.

Chiron would be alerted soon, but he knew better than to go to the school to pick us up. Ever since my powers had developed a lot better, I could quickly get to Camp Half-Blood through the sea (given the distance wasn't anything crazy). Before long, we reached the beach but I stopped in my tracks. I couldn't process what I was seeing; it was too terrible. After a few minutes, Annabeth caught up to me panting, and saw my stricken face.

"Percy, what's wrong? What's going on with you..." Her voice trailed off and she turned and saw what I saw. Horror washed over her expression. "Oh. Oh gods." We heard a clip-clopping behind us, the sound of hooves. Chiron stood next to us, nodding sadly.

"And that, Percy, is what the message was about." He said quietly.

The sea was ablaze, the water flickering with heat. It was a sea of fire, dancing with white hot flames. The sea that I loved, that was an innate part of me. It had to be impossible-overwhelming fire on the churning tides. For as long as I could stare out at the open beach, I still couldn't believe my eyes. It didn't make any sense. That must have also been the moment I realized that a foreign feeling had been guiding my dumb decisions that day.

I didn't know what to say. Maybe I thought if I looked long enough, it would eventually die out, those horrible flames.

But it just kept burning.

 ** _A/N: Hi guys! I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. If you'd like to keep up with me and my most_**

 ** _recent stuff better for more, visit me on as emberkitty! :) Don't forget to review this if you liked it!_**

 ** _-Ember_**


	3. Ch2: The Prophecy of the Sea

Annabeth nudged me. It was getting late, and though the fire had finally seemed to falter, it was far from over. I could still make out the embers floating in the wishing current of the tide. Whoever did this, I couldn't forgive them, ever.

"Percy, I know you're distraught but we must head back. I'll explain as much as I can, but I'm afraid there isn't much to say. I don't understand it much myself either." Chiron led us back to camp silently after that and we sat down to have our own little private council meeting: just me, Annabeth, and him.

"I don't know what's going on." He said at last. "Ancient monsters are awakening, forbidden things come unsealed, and Poseidon's tri-" He frowned, looking reluctant. "Well, see that part for yourself." He waved his hand and some mist appeared showing the image of my dad's trident. It was as imposing and powerful looking as ever...but wrapped around it were flares and sprays of fire. In the background I could see and hear fighting. War? I was astonished. No way...

The image shut off. We were silent.

"Yeah? Well, what are we gonna do then? Ask Rachel for a prophecy?" I broke the ice.

Chiron twitched. "Let's leave our little Oracle alone for now. Right now, I must take a few drastic measures. I shall introduce you to a friend of mine-the only wise, civilized centaur other than myself."

I furrowed my brow. Not all of his buds were crazy, drunk Party Ponies?

Chiron smiled weakly. "He's quite nice, really. His name is Pholus."

Annabeth snapped her fingers. "Pholus! I remember his story, but didn't he die when he helped Hercules?"

Chiron snorted. "Wouldn't that mean I'd have died too? Rumors spread like flies with a plague. Don't listen to village gossip." I wondered if I was supposed to know who this Pholus guy was. Chiron must've seen my confused expression because he asked if I knew who Pholus was.

"Right, Pholus, duh!" I laughed nonchalantly. "Of course, man. Totally tight with him. Like, I probably should know who he is sooo..." Chiron sighed and exchanged a look with Annabeth. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate that? It's like they're having an inside joke, except less funny and more death. I'm pretty sure I'd complained about it already, too!

In any case, Chiron seemed to dismiss explaining it to me, since he pretty much didn't bother to give me another lecture. Actually, I remember before, Annabeth had given me a huge book and told me to memorize it if I wanted to know what the myths and heroes we talked about were, but there's no way I'd read a tome bigger than the gods' egos (a possible exaggeration). Much easier to listen to Chiron's boring speeches. Since he didn't, I figured it wasn't that important. That, or he's getting stressed again and has lost some gray mane, but I'm not thinking about that lest the image of him in his tail curlers pops up again.

I thought back to the sea on fire. This was unnerving. I'd never seen anything like it before, and believe me, I've seen a lot. But never a sea on fire, and definitely not _the_ Trident on fire. The battle in the background made me feel terrible. I should be down there right now, defending against whatever was attacking. I'm 16, but this is one of those moments when I feel like I'm 12 again-clueless, helpless, and utterly powerless. All I can do is watch and not get in the way.

It was about noon, and lunch should've started a few minutes ago, but the campers were running late training. They were gathered near, but still had on some equipment and weren't making an apparent attempt to get there quickly. The others were watching Clarisse and some guy from Apollo's cabin start a mini-fight.

"Campers!" Chiron shouted. They continued to ignore him. Chiron stomped right up and banged his hoof on a table. "CAMPERS!" Everyone reluctantly put up their swords and other things like poisonous bombs to come sit.

"These things usually remain in a later time, but before lunch begins we need to clear something up immediately."

"We shall be sending a quest. As you know, something has gone terribly wrong. Therefore...we will be finding out exactly what has happened," He continued. "We shall request advice and information from my old acquaintance Pholus, seek what needs to be fixed, and return with hopefully good results." The campers shifted nervously. It'd only been what, two months? Three? Finally, the war was over and now he's announcing another danger?

My heart clenched. Why? Why do we have to be at risk at every moment? Why can't we just sit down and be a good, happy family for a little while? All I wanted was to attend school with Annabeth and live at home with Mom and Paul. Maybe even visit Camp Half-Blood several times a week to talk to Grover, spar and teach sword-fighting class, and play Get the Greek with Mrs.O' Leary, the sweetest hellhound in the world. Considering hellhounds aren't usually sweet.

How many prophecies and dangers did a guy need? I felt like the Fates had to be messing with us. I thought I had gotten a normal life. A family, a home, a girlfriend, a best friend, a summer camp, a dog. Things should stay like this. I wouldn't even mind a few monsters here and there to liven things up.

Chiron dismissed the meeting after deciding the quest members. "Percy, you and Annabeth shall go. You can pick a third member." I frowned. Before, the prophecy included more than three.

He saw my troubled look and pulled me away to talk in private while Annabeth needed to disperse the campers. Where was Mr.D? Why wasn't he here right now? I decided to hold the question off first for a little.

"Chiron, we can't pick before the actual prophecy, can we?" I asked, just to be sure. The last time I'd ignored his input didn't exactly end well. And it didn't seem normal to just _give_ the mission to us two automatically either,

He looked pained. "I'm sorry, Percy, but with the sea like it is now, even more disastrous things can happen. Also...I've spoken to others about it already, regarding the decision. Besides, we need all our campers, and last time, only three made it back. If we send someone else, can you promise you'll bring them back?"

That stung a little. I couldn't help remembering Bianca, and the empty oath I'd made.

Chiron put his hand on my shoulder. "I don't mean it like that, Percy. But what you are trying to find out gives me a feeling that is old, ancient beyond even me, maybe even the king of gods himself. Pholus may not know, but he has a great deal of knowledge of...other things. He may decipher the problem!" He spoke firmly. "You'll have about two weeks at best to find him-longer than you may have done before, but he is difficult to find. The last thing he told me was to follow the running stars, and solve their eternal mystery. Only then will his hidden home be revealed to the world."

He shook his head at my confused reaction. "I'm not exactly sure what it means, either, but it will take time. However, two weeks is all we can offer. You'd best go now. This is only one milestone."

"Where is Mr.D?" I asked hesitantly, because the wine god never made my favorites list, but he hadn't been around lately.

Chiron's lips pursed. "He's dealing with...mortal problems. But that isn't what you should be concerned with right now. Go to Annabeth. Pick. We have no time to waste." He clipped away, leaving me with more questions than answers. Solve the mystery of the stars? Find a Party Pony dropout?

Normally, Grover would've been a first pick. But he was away somewhere at the moment. I forget. Strange...a thought tugged at me, but my mind turned to other things immediately. Tyson is undersea, and I wish, battling safely for Poseidon. "I guess I'll have to go with Thalia," I said unwillingly. Then I remembered she was a Hunter now, so I couldn't bother her.

"Have to? Getting a big ego there, aren't you Seaweed Brain?" I turned to see a punk girl with ripped black and silver clothes. She was grinning at me with electric blue eyes and a splash of brown freckles across her face. "Long time no see."

"Pinecone Face!" I smiled at Thalia. "Wait a second...long time? We saw you like two weeks ago!" Annabeth and I had decided to watch this movie called _Thor_ which was pretty funny to us because it fantasized about gods and magic and all that. Crazy stuff really, and we were cracking jokes about it when Thalia barged in chasing this giant who-knows-what-ugly-as-crud thing. Come to think of it, back then mortals sort of noticed it too, complaining about the silver girl's gigantic pet was blocking the movie.

"Aren't you busy with the Hunters?" Annabeth hugged her. Thalia gave us her playful, wicked smile. "My Hunters and I have successfully killed around five drakons, three empousai, six draconae, and a basilisk. Artemis decided her lieutenant could spare a break." Her face darkened. "Also because she knows a little about the...you know." I looked away. Yeah. I knew.

"The fire, the mortals, the trident-does she know anything about it?" I tried. Thalia shook her head grimly. To top off this bright conversation, Chiron told us the quest was official and I could go consult the Oracle now.

The Oracle has made a huge debut. First, it was a crusty, gross, old, creaky mummy. Now she's a bright, bouncy, curly-red-haired girl with a lot of orange freckles. She's Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

"Rachel!" I called out, running to her. She was watering the strawberry plants that Annabeth had insisted to sell cartloads of so they could afford her super architecture re-designing of Olympus. Annabeth and Thalia followed me.

"Oh, hey! Whatsup!" She looked so cheerful. I took a breath and told her what was going on. Her smile faltered.

"Well then...alright, I guess. But be a little cautious, I'm pretty sure I've got this down by now, but just stay careful. I'm still working at delivering the Oracle's spirit." She said. I nodded.

I faced her. "What awaits on the quest?" Rachel closed her eyes. A few seconds passed. I said again, "What awaits the quest?" Rachel opened her eyes, but they were now misty green. She opened her mouth and a few curls of green smoke slithered out.

 _I am the Oracle of Delphi, speaker of Prophecies, one who slayed the mighty Python._ Her raspy, creepy, ancient voice spoke. _Approach, seeker, and ask._

I swallowed. Even though this was Rachel, at the same time it wasn't. I usually didn't let it show, but when she goes all freaky-future telling-oracle on me, I tend to get a little sweaty.

"I want to know what's going on, what is to become of the quest." I finally answered. Rachel's body quivered a bit and more wisps of smoke came out. It formed the image of my friends: Grover, Juniper, Tyson, Nico, and Poseidon, my dad. Grover spoke first.

 _Seek the horse with secrets to learn_

Juniper chimed in with an eerie voice that harmonized with Grover's.

 _Four shall go and one to die, one to burn_

Tyson toyed with some metal, then looked up with a very un-Tysonlike smile.

 _Face enemies, new and old, in land and stars_

Nico twisted his silver skull ring like he does when he's nervous, muttering in the Oracle's tone.

 _Two ghosts rise: The moon's bow and dragon scars_

Poseidon stood with his trident in the air. His image in the mist made me feel jittery.

 _You shall rescue the sea and find the answers to the doom_

He looked at me proudly when he said this. Except it was just an illusion of the Oracle, so his eyes were glassy and lifeless. But then something weird happened. Really, really weird.

His face contorted into a hideous, gruesome smile that stretched across his face. His form changed and no longer was Poseidon. Around me, the images of my friends also disappeared and the scene was replaced by my mom and Paul screaming, running, then altered into me on the ground, bloody and battered. The evil face I saw appeared again, a little faded, where Poseidon stood before. It delivered the last line of the prophecy while staring at the image of me on the ground.

 _And beware the song that leads you to your tomb._

The smoke trailed back into Rachel's mouth. She shuddered and crumpled, her eyes returning to normal. "Rachel!" I yelled. Annabeth and Thalia heard me cry out and rushed. When Rachel came to in the infirmary, she looked truly frightened, for the first time I ever saw her.

"This isn't normal. This isn't it." She kept murmuring to herself.

"What? What do you mean, Rachel?" I asked her. She shook her head and took heavy breaths, trying to calm down. She'd never been like this before.

"This hasn't happened until today." She trembled. "The visions, the things I saw when the Oracle took over, Percy-no, it wasn't the Oracle. Just then, at the last lines, when the image rippled." Sh stared with wide eyes at nothing in front of her. "Something messed up. The line was right, but the image change, that was some other evil force's doing." She began to sniffle a bit. Annabeth patted her arm.

"It'll be okay." I reassured her. "We'll find out whatever it is on the quest." Rachel put her hands to her ears and her voice was barely a whisper. "No. No. You don't understand, Percy. While I was supposed to be in blank trance, when the thing was hijacked, it was a nightmare. I saw all these things...it scared me."

She hesitated to say this last part. "And...Thalia, I saw some things in between the flashes that sometimes occurred, like quick shock waves of static. I couldn't make out most of them, but I do remember a few. One of them was the image of a castle ruin, a full silver moon. I barely made out the view of Hunters on the ground, dead, the others praying, Artemis crying. Percy and Annabeth were chained. Grover was tending to a blue fire." Rachel stared down now, not meeting her eyes.

"Grover's eyes weren't right. The colors..." she mumbled. Then she looked straight at Thalia, unblinking. "I have no idea if that flash, or even any of the flashes, were true. But if they are, then I can confirm one part of it. I don't know if you were standing with the dead Hunters and everyone at that time; I couldn't even see the part of your face with your eyes because it was so dark and you were covered by the architecture. But you were positively in one of the flashes. One of them..." and she wavered here.

"One of them was the castle crumbling down, with you inside, crying. One, perhaps two tears streaking down. Singing and crying."

She looked at us with shaken eyes, and they scared me. Because those terrified eyes reminded me of someone I'd met long ago, someone who'd seen too much of what should remain unseen. I realized this was what exactly what was happening with the Mist, the mortals. And this situation right now, the eyes that bore into me, well...it reminded me a lot of May Castellan.

 _ **A/N: Hi again! I really appreciate reviews, so if you like this story so far, don't forget! And if you want to**_

 _ **catch up with more, I'm emberkitty on . Thanks!**_

 _ **-Ember**_


	4. Ch3: I Have A Lovely Nighmare Before

Great. Not only has the sea somehow turned into fire, I've blown up Paul's school twice now, and Rachel has officially begun showing her similarities to the old oracle mummy. To sum it up, it could not get worse, huh?

I cannot believe how many times I ask that to myself and ironically, it does. That day was full of apologizing. I apologized to Paul for destroying everything, to Annabeth for ruining our school life together, to Chiron for not listening, to Rachel for telling her she was slowly turning into a dusty mummified dead oracle in the attic (although it was partly true), but she kicked me anyway.

Least I got a good sleep right? Wow, another question I ask a lot that never works out. Deja vu. Yup, this night was no exception because I just love being plagued with freaky dreams and threats. Right.

I got into bed and tried to forget, at least until I fell asleep. When I finally did, I dreamt that I was swimming in the sea. Then the sea erupted into flames. I flailed desperately to avoid getting burned.

I dragged myself out of the sea and a tear traced from my eye. I looked down. Wait a second...it wasn't me. I was just like a conscious observer. The person who was at the sea muttered to herself. She had blond hair, looked like a young mom. She touched the fiery water, and recoiled, shrieking. In her hand, the fire was still there in her hand, like it was devouring her thoughts, taking over. I noticed the flame was dark and strange, in the sea too. That was odd. At any rate, the woman turned and looked at me. Then, I realized I wasn't an invisible bystander. I was living in someone's point of view.

Still, I felt like a faded watcher, with no actual body, how I usually do if I'm just observing. The lady widened her eyes as one hand reached out, desperately. I noticed she wasn't exactly a young mom. She had a lot of white streaks and her clear eyes had wrinkle lines underneath. Her eyes looked like they just gained the ability to see truly. Like she was woken from a trance that made her go crazy or something.

She whispered but before I could make it out, she stopped. The fire dimmed, then disappeared inside her. Her clear eyes turned misty again.

Before the dream ended, I had to at least know who I was in it. I peered at myself through the reflecting fire right when the dream finished, so I remembered only one feature.

I woke up in cold sweat.

A scar on my face.

I took a bite of breakfast, but my stomach was uneasy. It was the morning of the day when we'd depart for the quest. See, I had a hunch.

There wasn't enought time for me to see what anything really looked like. The fire in the the water had been too blurred and colored, so I couldn't even make out the hair color. But one prominent thing I knew-the scar. Definitely.

I did have a theory. But it was very unlikely, or maybe it's just that I hoped desperately I'd be wrong. After all, I wanted to believe, as much as I liked this person, the whole incident was gone and over.

The lady...I'd seen her before. I didn't know when or where exactly, and I couldn't place my finger on it. But I swear, that face was familiar. So were, and especially, the eyes she bore.

"Percy!" I was jolted back in reality. "Percy, our you okay?!"

I blinked. "Hah?" Annabeth stared at me with a worried face.

"You've been acting kinda...weird. Since this morning." She said.

I knitted my brow. How could she tell? Was I being too obvious? No one else has said anything, and even if she knew me well, I don't think she'd tell so quickly.

"You usually talk a lot more. Also, you're easygoing and fun, yet you look so serious and quiet today. You hate to think too much into something, being the Seaweed Brain you are, but you're completely lost in thought. I don't get it, so I know something suspicious is going on." She reasoned.

I scratched my head. She could tell by that much!

"But the real clincher is that you despise raisin bread." She pointed.

I looked down and immediately realized the foul taste in my mouth was spreading. I dumped the stuff on the table and drank a lot of Blue Cherry Coke. It wasn't as bad as regular raisin bread, which I apologize to raisin bread fans because I just don't like it, but even magic can't get rid of the terrible flavor.

I held up my hands and resigned myself. "Okay, you win. But it's nothing really." I didn't want to lie, but I didn't want her to know either. She would be much too affected if she thought there was a possibility of that person being...

Annabeth frowned a little but brightened in a moment. "Alright...but hey! Quest is today! I'm so happy that I can do a quest with you and Thalia; it's been ages!"

I forced myself to laugh cheerfully. "Yup! Let's get ready!" She stuck out her tongue and held up two traveling bags.

"You think I would come unprepared? I knew you would forget and try to rush in the morning, so I got yours too!" She handed me one.

I grinned. "Sure thing, Wise Girl." Thalia was running up to us, and it was almost time to depart for our quest. Annabeth put her hands on her hips.

"Hey, what's up with Wise Girl? It's not even an insult, Seaweed Brain." She teased. Thalia arrived and beckoned us to follow.

"Chiron wants to send us off now!" Thalia called. Annabeth and I began to run after her.

I tried to think of a nickname to retort. "Uh, how about Owl Head?"

"Eew. What the heck?" We caught up to Thalia.

"Hmm. I like it." Annabeth smacked me playfully when I said that.

"Thalia! Tell Percy to stop calling me Owl Head! It's so dumb!"

"Catchy." Was Thalia's only response.

I turned to Annabeth. "See?"

"You're impossible. Let's hurry, Chiron is standing at the tree."

"Sure thing, Owl Head."

"Don't call me that."

I smiled. It was so nice, I wanted to stay in these happy smiles forever. But in the back of my head, it kept nagging on me, the dream, the situation, everything. I pushed it away, but then something hit me. I figured it out. But it left as fast as it came, and no matter how hard I tried to remember, I couldn't. It was in fact, like actually the more I thought the more it blanked out.

I was nearly at the tree now, but all that spacing out had slowed me down. My friends were already much ahead of me, getting more distant as they approached our meeting place. But I couldn't help hesitating, and looking back one more time.

 _A storm is coming_ , a voice whispered menacingly in my ear. _And when it rains blood, know that it is you who is responsible for their deaths._ I started, but there was no one there. Shivers ran down my spine.

I had a bad feeling about this quest.


	5. Ch4: Great, We're Lost

_Quick author's note first! Aw, come on, it's not long. Okay, since Rick Riordan has pretty much sucked Greek mythology stuff I can use dry, I will create MINOR things not really in Greek mythology. Just a little, since I still want to make this as real Percy Jackson as possible. There's plenty left, but I don't want to use them on everything, if that makes sense._

 _Uh, and if anyone finds that Percy has eaten raisin bread or something previously, tell me cuz I made that up. I just don't like raisin bread, so I went with the flow. Alsooo...this has nothing to do with The Heroes of Olympus, alright?! All Greek. So, like don't think I'm contradicting stuff. You know how in THOO Nico travels camp to camp? Not here. Since I'm not doing Roman. So don't get confused. K BYE!_

"Sweet! Let's head out!" Thalia said cheerfully. I mean, we were going on a dangerous quest to save the world. No biggie.

Chiron was waving goodbye at the tree boundary, but I could tell his smile was pained. I knew the situation wasn't good, but what could go wrong? We were just asking a centaur for advice on how to turn the sea back to water and stuff. We had our ambrosia squares, nectar canteen, drachmas, mortal cash, weapons, etc. Like, this was a totally normal quest. We were already on the path to the mountain. Once we reached there, we would go over it, talk to a horse, and come back down. Pretty easy.

So anyways, while we walked we chatted and talked about what we've been doing so far. "Have you run into any trouble yet, Percy?" Thalia asked. "Anything big happen before camp?"

I thought about the drakon and blowing up the school. "Nah."

Annabeth slung her arm around Thalia's shoulders. "It's been pretty ordinary for us up until this point. You're a Hunter, so you constantly have adventure. What's up lately?"

Thalia grinned. "Being Artemis's lieutenant is awesome. We've fought a lot of monsters and all. Thinking back on it, it was pretty average all around too. But..." She looked a little serious. "I didn't notice, but mortal eyes have been getting a little more...sharp."

I stopped. So it hadn't just been my imagination. They stopped too and looked at me.

"Percy?" Annabeth was bewildered. "Something wrong?"

"Sharp? You mean like through the Mist?" I was quiet. Thalia swallowed a little.

"Y-yeah." She responded. Annabeth thought over this, and her brow furrowed.

I tried giving examples of what I'd noted. "Like...say a drakon attacks and people think it is a huge snake and not an explosion?"

Thalia bit her lip. "Right. Or for instance, if some mortal hunter sees the Arcadian Deer as a magical-esque doe and tries to shoot it."

Annabeth seemed to have something dawn on her. "The movie theater too. What's-what's going on?"

There was silence. Thalia and Annabeth were whispering to each other after awhile as I was just staring into blank space. I was trying to figure it out, like when the solution is on the tip of your tongue but you can't quite get it. Bits and pieces, cluttered in my head. It was sort of like a puzzle set that I couldn't solve, one where I needed once last fragment but I couldn't find it.

Or more like the fragment wasn't there in the first place.

But as the girls talked about it, I looked up. And around us. Then I knew that we couldn't dwell on that at the moment. We needed to fix what we were faced with currently.

"Guys?" I said shakily. They seemed annoyed.

"What, Percy?" Annabeth demanded. "We're at the edge of solving the puzzle, I know it!"

"We just need one more minute, one more clue." Thalia complained.

I looked at them seriously. "You can't solve what doesn't exist as a whole."

They must've been surprised since I don't say philosophical or whatever things often, but this was no time to crack a joke. "Point is, check out where we are."

Somehow, we had strolled straight into a forest. It was nice, as far as forests go, but something was wrong. Bright, happy, a nice feeling-on the shallow view. But, enchanted.

Also, the trees were oddly shaped. The roots and branches were kind of warped and curled all weirdly. the plants seemed normal enough, but they bristled with points here and there. There was a nice clear path but this entire area felt old, ancient even, and devoid of life. Certainly nothing had lived here, at least not in centuries, yet there were no dust or dead leaves on the ground.

It was entirely healthy looking, judging by what I saw in the daylight. Thalia seemed to have an idea of what was going on.

"Percy, take a leaf." She told me.

I hesitantly plucked a leaf from a bush and recoiled. Horrifying images flashed in my mind, the leaf shuddered and flailed as if it were moving alive for a moment and I almost thought I heard screams and gruesome sounds.

"A-ahh-aghhhh..." I doubled over and gasped. I clutched my ears. My head was spinning and I felt insanity wrap around me, trying to suffocate me with nightmarish images.

"There's no doubt about it." Thalia said gravely. "I'm sure."

I looked at her and she stood tall.

"The second most terrifying maze existing, direct and heart piercing, a haunting place for unwary travelers," She said slowly. "It can't get worse."

I almost didn't want to, but I dared myself to ask. "Where are we?"

Annabeth clenched her hands as she had figured as much too.

This is the Twisted Trees, the forest of nightmaric images. Illusions and reality have no meaning here." She was obviously shaken.

Thalia gritted her teeth. "Crap, I can't believe we ran into this place. Out of all the places, getting in this wretched forest is the worst scenario! There is no situation that is more traumatizing!"

I smiled as painfully as Chiron had.

"Yeah? Twenty drachmas it's about to."


	6. Ch5: The Nightmare Woods

Thalia cursed under her breath. "Crap...I'm such an idiot."

It had turned into night and, oh gods, the forest was scarier than it was in daytime, that much I can say.

Understatement of the week. Yay.

It's not as terrifying as it could be though. So far we've angered several monster plants with eyeballs and other creepy things on them that does not belong on flowers, triggered a bunch of nasty ghoul twisty-I don't even know-and oh! While this is all happening, we're lost, scrapped up, and well, it kind of sucks.

Just topped my understatement of the week. Double yay.

Mushrooms were popping with gory images and purple mush seeped everywhere. I almost got my hand bitten off by that very angry plant which I had pulled the leaf off. It was like a swarm of terror and nightmares. I even saw this daisy with one, very freaky eye. Like a Cyclops flower. I wondered what Tyson would think if he knew he had a dandelion or whatever as a relative.

But, you know, I was trying hard not to cry. I mean, I'm seventeen! Do I really have the time to be bawling over evil trees?

Hmm. Well I don't think any seventeen year old has even faced an evil tree, so lets put that aside. For now.

So here I am, trying to be optimistic, when a purple slithery ick comes up and whispers "Fall into hel- fiery torture". Well, that just made my day. Especially when it started crying blood.

I was shivering. This place was seriously giving me the creeps. Thalia was the busiest, leading us the best she could through the maze while slashing most of the attackers away. Annabeth was watching our backs and killing off any toughies that were crawling near. Me? Of course, I get the fun job. I get to carry our stuff and lug groves of spooky plants on my back as they hiss and try to eat me.

The night was really cold, or maybe it was just ghosts swirling around. I felt like cracking right there, but we had to keep going. Wherever we were going.

Finally Thalia stopped abruptly. "I've got it!" She cried and snapped her fingers.

My hopes rose. "Got what?"

She smiled. "I remember the legend! Four kids entered the forest and faced their fears and nightmares. This forest was not only a horrifying place, but also strengthened those who entered. Problem is...it's really a 0.01% chance thing. Like the Sirens." She continued excitedly. "The kids are scared and one dies. The three left face their fears and win. Later, they have the power to see their friends' ghosts for a short while, so they are able to make amends with their lost friend. This power is acquired because you spend so much time around spirits and nightmares; it's like a side effect that kicks in delayed. If you survive."

This was great! So there was a way out! "If people had done it before, we can too!" I was happy. Thalia looked a little nervous.

"I don't know, Percy. The only ones that did were the original group. That group included young Hercules. It isn't written as Hercules's famous adventures because this forest is extremely secret. Only demigods and other godly people can read them in the Ancient Books in Greek. I just happened to know some basic knowledge, not even the whole thing."

Annabeth was uneasy and her eyes widened. "Tha-that's great, Thalia, but..."

"Oh yeah! And there was this ultimate being thing in the forest. You'd have to have horrible luck to encounter it, though."

I saw the thing Annabeth was looking at. "Well, Percy Jackson, legend hero, super demigod's luck strikes again!"

Thalia turned and she readied her knives.

The creature was purple and covered in odd flowers. He seemed like a man, but with violet skin and a masquerade type mask. His arms were crossed and he smiled.

"Why, hello! My name is Zephr."

I drew my sword, Riptide, and we three charged into battle. "Oh, that's not nice!" Zephr tsked and appeared again. "Can't kill me!" Thalia leaped behind him suddenly and snarled. She plunged her knife in him and he screeched in pain. But his blood was dark and almost blackish.

He wiped some of it off and appeared unwounded. Not even a scratch or scar. He chuckled and sprayed his blood all over Thalia.

"Ew!" Se yelled, but then her eyes bulged. She staggered back, shrieking, clutching her head like she was insane.

Zephr sat back. "One's already on her Path of Fear."

"What did you do to her?" Annabeth screamed.

Zephr looked offended. "Excuse me, she's not the one who got stabbed! and she's not even in any pain! She told you the story, right? She's facing her fears now!" But then, Thalia emerged out of the shadows.

"Sorry, buster, I don't have any fears! I gave them up when I became a Hunter!" Zephr seemed amused.

"Oh? That's unfortunate for you, because if it's not possible to pass the ordeal, you die."

Annabeth charged, stepping on Zephr's blood on the ground. "Leave her alone! I'll pass your dumb ordeal-"

Her eyes bugged and she backed away, shouting until she melted away somewhere else.

Thalia shooed me. "Take the Path of Fear. I can't, but I will hold Zephr back from killing me." I stared at her. I couldn't just leave her! We needed to save her too!

Thalia seemed to guess my thoughts. "It's alright. Believe in me."

And she turned back to fight Zephr as I touched a drop of the inky blood.

Horror flashed through my mind. I stepped aimlessly and I could feel it. All my fears turning real. My biggest nightmares coming true.

Before I was transferred, I saw Thalia still fighting. I also remembered Annabeth's fear of spiders. I almost laughed if the situation wasn't so bad.

I melted into the darkness of the woods.

Good luck, both of you, I thought.

I get the feeling you're gonna need it.


End file.
